International Journal Of

Recent Scientific
Research
ISSN: 0976-3031
Volume: 6(12) December -2015

PHYTOCHEMICALS ANALYSIS AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITIES OF

GENETIC VARIANTS OF MIRABILIS JALAPA

Dipti Kumar Chandraprabha Kale

and Usha Mukundan

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International Journal
of Recent Scientific
International Journal of Recent Scientific Research Research
Vol. 6, Issue, 12, pp. 7696-7702, December, 2015
ISSN: 0976-3031
RESEARCH ARTICLE
PHYTOCHEMICALS ANALYSIS AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITIES OF GENETIC
VARIANTS OF MIRABILIS JALAPA
Dipti Kumar Chandraprabha Kale*and Usha Mukundan
Department of Biotechnology, Ramniranjan Jhunjhunwala College, Ghatkopar (W), Mumbai

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article History:
th
Received 06 September, 2015
Received in revised form 14th
October, 2015
Accepted 23rd November, 2015
Published online 28st December, 2015
Key words:
M. jalapa, Phytochemicals,
Antibacterial activity
Mirabilis jalapa Linn. is widely used as a traditional medicine in many parts of the world for the
treatment of various diseases. The methanol, acetone, chloroform and diethyl ether extracts from
different varieties of M. jalapa were screened for phytochemical analysis and antibacterial activities.
Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of Alkaloids and glycosides were detected only in the
methanolic extracts of all varieties, but were not detected in the other solvent extracts, viz. acetone,
chloroform and diethyl ether. Flavonoids and terpenoids were detected in all the four solvent extracts
of each variety. Among the four different solvents used for the extraction, the methanol extracts
followed by acetone extracts of all variety showed maximum inhibitory activity than the diethyl ether
and chloroform extracts. However the methanolic leaf extract of the white flowered variety showed
highest antibacterial activity against all organisms at 500 mg/ml concentration. Best activity was
observed against S. aureus NCIM 5021 followed by B. subtilis NCIM 2063, P. aeruginosa NCIM
5029 and E. coli NCIM 2931. Then second best antibacterial activity was shown by 500 mg/ml
concentration of methanolic leaf extracts of pink flowered variety, followed by yellow and orange
flowered variety, respectively.

Copyright © Dipti Kumar Chandraprabha Kale and Usha Mukundan.2015, this is an open-access article distributed under
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used as a laxative by people from different countries

INTRODUCTION
Due to worldwide increasing demand in the field of herbal
medicines, it has become necessary and pertinent to probe into
the area of systematic knowledge about herbal drugs. There is a
need for the application of this knowledge in authentication,
detailed study and practical utilization of crude drugs. The use
of traditional medicines and medicinal plants in most countries,
as a normative basis for the maintenance of good health has
been widely observed (Trivedi, 2006). It has been observed that
the medicinal value of these plants lies in the bioactive
phytochemical constituents that produce definite physiological
effect. These natural compounds form the basis of modern
drugs which we use today (Edeoga et al., 2005; Akinmo-laudn
et al., 2007; Rout et al., 2009).
One of such plant which has been used in traditional medicine
is Mirabilis jalapa, belonging to the family Nyctaginaceae and
commonly known as “Four O' clock plant”. It is a popular
ornamental plant grown worldwide for the beauty of its flowers
which can be red, white, yellow, orange or multicoloured and
their sweet fragrance. It is extensively used for treatment of
dysentery, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, edema, inflammation,
swellings, muscular pain, swelling and abdominal colic, also
(Holdsworth, 1992; Comerford, 1996; Encarnaci’on et al.,
1998; M’arquez et al., 1999).
Several constituents have been isolated from the root and aerial
parts of this plant including some rotenoids, terpenoids,
steroids, phenolic compounds, D-glucoside, ursolic acid,
mirabalisoic acid, trigonellin, alanine, alphaamyrins, arabinose,
beta amyrins, campesterol, daucosterol and dopamine (Stanic et
al., 1988; Siddiqui et al., 1990; Ali et al., 2001; Yang et al.,
2001; Yi-Fen et al., 2002; Wei et al., 2003) and Mirabilis
Antiviral Protein ( Vivanco et al., 1999).
The plant has been extensively studied for a variety of
bioactive principles and screened for different pharmacological
activities. Irrespective of the flower colour, extracts of M.
jalapa have been reported to possess various bioactive
properties including antibacterial, antifungal (Chakraborthy,
2009), antiviral (Vivanco et al. 1999), protein synthesis
inhibition (Kataoka et al., 1991), antinociceptive (Walker et al.,
2013) anti-inflammatory (Nath et al., 2010), anti-allergic and
anti-asthmatic (Maxia et al., 2010), antidiabetic (Sankar et al.,
2011), carminative (expel gas), purgative, stomachic tonic
(stimulating digestion) and vermifuge properties (expels
worms) (Dimayuga et al., 1998).

*Corresponding author: Dipti Kumar Chandraprabha Kale

Department of Biotechnology, Ramniranjan Jhunjhunwala College, Ghatkopar (W), Mumbai
 Dipti Kumar Chandraprabha Kale and Usha Mukundan., Phytochemicals Analysis and Antibacterial Activities of Genetic
Variants of Mirabilis Jalapa
In order to scientifically apprise some of the ethnomedical uses
of the plant, the present study intends to evaluate the bioactive
chemical constituents and antibacterial properties of M. jalapa
commonly used in herbal medicine in India.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Collection of plant material
The plants of Mirabilis jalapa L. of different flower colours
(pink, white, yellow, orange) were collected from Maharashtra,
India. The plants were maintained in the greenhouse of R.J.
College, Mumbai. The leaves of plants were collected in the
month of October and used for further analysis.
Preparation of the plant extract
Mirabilis jalapa leaves were thoroughly washed with water to
remove dirt, dust and shade dried on a clean filter paper. Once
the leaves were completely dried, they were ground into fine
powder using mechanical grinder, and kept in air tight
container until use (Muthumani et al., 2009). Extraction was
performed using the Soxhlet apparatus. Hundred grams of
leaves powder was packed into a thimble made up of Whatman
filter paper No. 1. The packed thimble was placed into the main
extraction unit of the Soxhlet apparatus. All the joints were
sealed with petroleum jelly. The temperature of the heating
mantle was adjusted to the boiling point of the solvent.
Different solvents like methanol, acetone, chloroform, diethyl
ether, with decreasing polarity were used. The extraction was
carried out for 2 hrs. The extracts thus obtained were
concentrated to a gummy material in incubator (Muthumani et
al., 2009).
Activated charcoal treatment
1 g of extract was treated with 0.5 g of activated charcoal slurry
in the respective solvents and incubated at room temperature
for 45 mins. The treated extracts were then filtered through a
Whatman filter paper No. 1 and concentrated in incubator at
40°C. The extracts were then kept in sterile bottles at 10°C
until further use for phytochemical analysis (Abeysinghe and
Weeraddana, 2011).
Sample preparation and Analysis of phytochemicals by
HPTLC
HPTLC precoated, silica gel G 60 F25 (Merck, Germany)
plates were used for the application of samples. Charcoal
treated extracts were dissolved in respective solvents, to
prepare 10% of each sample. Samples were applied on
precoated plate with the help of Linomat 5 applicator.
Phytochemical screening for alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids
and terpenoids were done according to Reich and Schibli
(2006).
Preparation of samples for antibacterial analysis
For each extract 500 mg/ml stock solution was prepared by
dissolving dried extract residues in respective solvents. From
stock solution required concentrations, i.e. 100 mg/ml, 300
mg/ml and 500 mg/ml, were prepared for assay. Solution of
streptomycin (10 µg/ml) in sterile distilled water was prepared
as positive control. Pure solvents were used as negative control.
Microorganisms used
Four bacterial species were employed as test organisms. These
included: Gram negative bacteria: Pseudomonas aeruginosa
NCIM 5029, Escherichia coli NCIM 2931; Gram positive
bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, NCIM 5021, Bacillus subtilis
NCIM 2063, these were obtained as fresh pure cultures from
the National Collection of Industrial Microorganisms, Pune,
India.
Preparation of bacterial suspension
A loop full of Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIM 5029,
Staphylococcus aureus, NCIM 5021, Bacillus subtilis NCIM
2063 cultures were inoculated in sterile Nutrient broth and
Escherichia coli NCIM 2931 in sterile Luria broth and
incubated for 6 to 8 hrs. at 37 °C. The turbidity of cultures were
adjusted to 0.5 McFarland’s standard by diluting with sterile
saline obtain a bacterial suspension of 108 CFU/ml before use
(Ezhilarasu and Prabakaran, 2013).
Antibacterial assay by agar well diffusion method
Antibacterial activity was determined against four pathogens
by agar well diffusion method (Spooner and Sykes, 1972). Petri
plates containing 20 ml of solidified sterile Mueller-Hinton
agar media were inoculated with 100 μl of diluted cultures by
the spread plate technique and were allowed to dry in a sterile
chamber. Each plate containing 5 wells of 8 mm were cut using
a cork borer on the surface of the inoculated agar. Different
concentrations of Soxhlet extracts, viz. 100, 300, 500 mg/ml
were made using respective solvent as diluting agent. 0.1 ml of
each of the leaf extracts were aseptically dispensed into three of
the wells using a 1.0 ml sterile pipette. Respective solvents of
0.1 ml were introduced into middle well to serve as control.
Streptomycin (10 μg/ml) used as the reference antibacterial
agent was introduced into fourth well. The plates were
incubated in refrigerator for 30 min. in order to allow pre-
diffusion of the extracts in the agar wells (Esimone et al.,
1998). The antibacterial assay plates were incubated at 37 °C
for 24 hrs. After incubation, the plates were observed for zones
of inhibition around the well. The observed zones of inhibition
were measured and recorded in millimeters (mm). The degree
of antimicrobial activity was evaluated using the values
obtained from the readings of the zone of inhibition on each of
the agar plates. The antibacterial activity of each flower colour
extracts of M. jalapa were compared with streptomycin, which
was taken as a standard (Ullah et al., 2010).
Statistical analysis of data
All reported values are means of triplicates (n = 3). Statistical
analysis of the data was performed using the IBM SPSS
version 19 software. Comparison between antimicrobial
activity was performed using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test.
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Means that are assigned the same letter(s) are not significantly Gram negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIM
different from each other at p < 0.05. 5029, Escherichia coli NCIM 2931) and Gram positive bacteria
(Staphylococcus aureus NCIM 5021, Bacillus subtilis NCIM
RESULTS 2063). The results revealed that all the extracts are potent
antimicrobials against all the microorganisms studied. The
The preliminary phytochemical screening of M. jalapa extract values for zones of inhibition (mean ±SD) have been reported
showed the presence of bioactive components like alkaloids, in the Tables 2 - 5.
terpenoids, glycosides and flavonoids (Table 1). Alkaloids,
glycosides were only detected in methanol extracts of leaf of all Among the different solvent extracts studied, methanol showed
varieties. While terpenoids and flavonoids were methanol, high degree of inhibition followed by acetone, diethyl ether and
acetone, chloroform, diethyl ether extracts of leaves of all chloroform extracts (Fig 1 – 4).
varieties.
Table 1 Phytochemical screening results of various extracts of leaf of M. jalapa varieties.
Sample Alkaloids Terpenoids Glycosides Flavonoids
Methanol extract of pink leaves + + + +
Acetone extract of pink leaves - + - +
Chloroform extract of pink leaves - + - +
Diethyl ether extracts of pink leaves - + - +
Methanol extract of white leaves + + + +
Acetone extract of white leaves - + - +
Chloroform extract of white leaves - + - +
Diethyl ether extracts of white leaves - + - +
Methanol extract of yellow leaves + + + +
Acetone extract of yellow leaves - + - +
Chloroform extract of yellow leaves - + - +
Diethyl ether extracts of yellow leaves - + - +
Methanol extract of orange leaves + + + +
Acetone extract of orange leaves - + - +
Chloroform extract of orange leaves - + - +
Diethyl ether extracts of orange leaves - + - +
Key: - ‘+’ Detected and ‘-‘Not detected

Table 2 Antimicrobial activity of leaf extracts of pink flowered M. jalapa against test microorganisms
Zone of Inhibition (mm) Mean ±SD
Standard/ Solvent
Conc. P. aeruginosa E. coli S. aureus B. subtilis
Extracts
NCIM 5029 NCIM 2931 NCIM 5021 NCIM 2063
Streptomycin 10 µg/ml 30.00±0.00 28.00±0.00 33.00±0.00 32.00±0.00
100 mg/ml 14.67±0.47 13.00±0.00 16.67±0.47 15.67±0.94
Methanol 300 mg/ml 22.33±0.47 20.67±0.47 26.00±0.00 23.67±0.47
500 mg/ml 25.00±0.00 24.00±0.00 27.67±0.47 27.33±0.47
100 mg/ml 13.67±0.47 12.33±0.47 15.67±0.00 15.33±0.47
Acetone 300 mg/ml 21.67±0.47 21.33±0.00 24.33±0.00 23.00±0.00
500 mg/ml 23.00±0.00 22.00±0.47 26.33±0.00 25.67±0.00
100 mg/ml 11.33±0.00 11.00±0.47 13.67±0.47 12.33±0.47
Chloroform 300 mg/ml 17.33±0.00 16.33±0.47 19.33±0.47 18.33±0.00
500 mg/ml 20.00±0.47 19.33±0.47 23.00±0.47 22.00±0.00
100 mg/ml 12.33±0.47 11.33±0.47 15.00±0.00 13.00±0.00
Diethyl ether 300 mg/ml 19.33±0.47 18.33±0.47 21.00±0.00 20.00±0.00
500 mg/ml 20.67±0.47 20.00±0.00 23.67±0.47 23.00±0.00

Table 3 Antimicrobial activity of leaf extracts of white flowered M. jalapa against test organisms
Zone of Inhibition (mm) Mean ±SD
Standard/ Solvent
Conc. P. aeruginosa E. coli S. aureus B. subtilis
Extracts
NCIM 5029 NCIM 2931 NCIM 5021 NCIM 2063
Streptomycin 10 µg/ml 30.00±0.00 28.00±0.00 33.00±0.00 32.00±0.00
100 mg/ml 16.33±0.47 14.33±0.47 20.00±0.00 18.00±0.00
Methanol 300 mg/ml 24.33±0.47 23.00±0.00 28.00±0.00 27.00±0.00
500 mg/ml 26.00±0.00 24.67±0.47 30.00±0.00 29.00±0.00
100 mg/ml 15.00±0.00 13.00±0.00 17.67±0.47 16.33±0.47
Acetone 300 mg/ml 23.33±0.47 22.00±0.00 25.00±0.00 24.00±0.00
500 mg/ml 24.33±0.47 23.00±0.82 27.67±0.47 26.67±0.47
100 mg/ml 12.00±0.00 11.33±0.47 14.67±0.47 13.00±0.00
Chloroform 300 mg/ml 20.00±0.00 19.00±0.00 22.67±0.47 21.00±0.00
500 mg/ml 21.00±0.00 20.00±0.00 25.00±0.00 24.00±0.00
100 mg/ml 13.00±0.00 12.33±0.47 15.67±0.47 14.33±0.47
Diethyl ether 300 mg/ml 21.33±0.47 19.67±0.47 23.00±0.00 21.67±0.47
500 mg/ml 22.67±0.47 21.33±0.47 26.33±0.47 25.33±0.47

The sixteen different crude extracts of methanol, acetone, It was observed that at 500 mg/ml concentration, methanolic
chloroform and diethyl ether of four varieties, i.e. pink, white, extracts of all M. jalapa varieties showed effective
yellow and orange of M. jalapa leaves were tested against antimicrobial activity against all four test organisms.

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 Dipti Kumar Chandraprabha Kale and Usha Mukundan., Phytochemicals Analysis and Antibacterial Activities of Genetic
Variants of Mirabilis Jalapa

Table 4 Antimicrobial activity of leaf extracts of yellow flowered M. jalapa against test organisms
Zone of Inhibition (mm) Mean ±SD
Standard/
Conc. P. aeruginosa E. coli S. aureus B. subtilis
Solvent Extracts
NCIM 5029 NCIM 2931 NCIM 5021 NCIM 2063
Streptomycin 10 µg/ml 30.00±0.00 28.00±0.00 33.00±0.00 32.00±0.00
100 mg/ml 13.00±0.00 12.67±0.47 16.33±0.47 15.33±0.47
Methanol 300 mg/ml 20.00±0.00 18.33±0.47 24.67±0.47 22.00±0.00
500 mg/ml 24.33±0.47 22.33±0.47 26.67±0.47 26.00±0.00
100 mg/ml 12.67±0.47 12.33±0.47 14.67±0.47 14.00±0.00
Acetone 300 mg/ml 21.00±0.00 20.00±0.00 23.33±0.47 21.33±0.47
500 mg/ml 22.33±0.47 21.33±0.47 25.00±0.00 24.00±0.00
100 mg/ml 11.33±0.47 11.00±0.00 12.00±0.00 11.67±0.47
Chloroform 300 mg/ml 16.00±0.00 15.33±0.47 18.33±0.47 17.00±0.00
500 mg/ml 19.00±0.00 18.33±0.47 21.67±0.47 20.00±0.00
100 mg/ml 11.33±0.47 11.00±0.00 14.00±0.00 12.33±0.47
Diethyl ether 300 mg/ml 17.67±0.47 17.00±0.00 20.00±0.00 19.67±0.47
500 mg/ml 20.67±0.47 19.33±0.47 23.00±0.00 22.00±0.00

Table 5 Antimicrobial activity of leaf extracts of orange flowered M. jalapa against test organisms
Zone of Inhibition (mm) Mean ±SD
Standard/ Solvent
Conc. P. aeruginosa E. coli S. aureus B. subtilis
Extracts
NCIM 5029 NCIM 2931 NCIM 5021 NCIM 2063
Streptomycin 10 µg/ml 30.00±0.00 28.00±0.00 33.00±0.00 32.00±0.00
100 mg/ml 13.33±0.47 13.00±0.00 15.33±0.47 15.00±0.00
Methanol 300 mg/ml 19.33 ±0.47 18.00±0.00 22.33±0.47 20.33±0.47
500 mg/ml 23.33±0.47 21.67±0.47 25.00±0.00 24.33±0.47
100 mg/ml 12.00±0.00 12.00±0.00 15.33±0.47 13.33±0.47
Acetone 300 mg/ml 20.00±0.00 19.00±0.00 21.67±0.47 20.67±0.47
500 mg/ml 21.00±0.00 20.67±0.47 23.67±0.47 22.67±0.47
100 mg/ml 11.00±0.00 10.67±0.47 11.67±0.47 11.33±0.47
Chloroform 300 mg/ml 15.33±0.47 14.00±0.00 17.67±0.47 16.00±0.00
500 mg/ml 18.00±0.00 17.33±0.47 21.33±0.47 19.33±0.47
100 mg/ml 11.00±0.00 10.67±0.47 12.67±0.47 12.00±0.00
Diethyl ether 300 mg/ml 16.00±0.00 16.33±0.47 19.00±0.00 18.00±0.00
500 mg/ml 19.33±0.47 18.33±0.47 22.00±0.00 21.00±0.00
The acetone extracts of all variety showed less activity than
methanol extract, but showed more activity than chloroform
and diethyl ether extracts. While the minimum inhibitory
concentration (MIC) of the all extracts were 100 mg/ml.
However, the methanol extract of white flowered plant leaves
showed good antibacterial activity against four test organisms
than other three colours i.e. pink, yellow and orange. From the
results it has been revealed that irrespective of flower colour,
highest growth of inhibition were recorded against
Staphylococcus aureus NCIM 5021 in methanol extracts of all
varieties (25.00 to 30.00 mm) followed by Bacillus subtilis
NCIM 2063 (24.33 to 29.00 mm), Pseudomonas aeruginosa
NCIM 5029 (23.33 to 26.00 mm), Escherichia coli NCIM 2931 Figure 1 Antimicrobial activity of different M. jalapa variety leaves
extracts against Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIM 5029
(21.67 to 24.67 mm).

Similarly, in acetone extracts, the maximum zone of inhibition

were observed against Staphylococcus aureus NCIM 5021
(23.67 to 27.67 mm) followed Bacillus subtilis NCIM 2063
(22.67 to 26.67 mm), Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIM 5029
(21.00 to 24.33 mm), Escherichia coli NCIM 2931 (20.67 to
23.00 mm).

The diethyl ether extracts exhibited maximum zone of

inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus NCIM 5021 (22.00 to
26.33 mm) followed Bacillus subtilis NCIM 2063 (21.00 to
25.33 mm), Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIM 5029 (19.33 to
22.67 mm) and Escherichia coli NCIM 2931 (18.33 to 21.33
mm) (Fig. 1 – 4) Figure 2 Antimicrobial activity of different M. jalapa variety leaves
extracts against Escherichia coli NCIM 2931

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In Fig. 6 it is observed that methanol extracts of pink and white

flowered M. jalapa leaves had significantly similar and more
antimicrobial activity than yellow and orange flowered M.
jalapa leaves extracts against Escherichia coli NCIM 2931 as
test organism. The yellow and orange flowered M. jalapa
leaves had similar significant effect on Escherichia coli NCIM
2931.

Figure 3Antimicrobial activity of different M. jalapa variety leaves

extracts against Staphylococcus aureus NCIM 5021

Figure 6 Antimicrobial activity of methanol extracts of different varieties

of M. jalapa against Escherichia coli NCIM 2931.

As seen in Fig. 7 and 8, the methanol extract of white flowered

M. jalapa leaves showed significantly higher antimicrobial
activity against Staphylococcus aureus NCIM 5021 and
Figure 4 Antimicrobial activity of different M. jalapa variety leaves
Bacillus subtilis NCIM 2063 as a test organisms than other
extracts against Bacillus subtilis NCIM 2063 methanol extracts. While pink flowered M. jalapa showed
Since the methanol extracts of all varieties leaves of a significantly higher antimicrobial activity against
concentration of 500 mg/ml had showed effective antimicrobial Staphylococcus aureus NCIM 5021 and Bacillus subtilis NCIM
activity against four of the strains tested than that of the other 2063 as a test organisms than methanol extract of yellow
three solvent extracts. Therefore the methanol extracts with flowered M. jalapa followed by methanol extract of orange
concentration of 500 mg/ml of all varieties were used for flowered M. jalapa.
statistical analysis of the data which had been performed using
the software SPSS version 19. Comparison between four
varieties methanol extracts against four test organisms has been
performed using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test. Those are
assigned the same letter(s) (a,b,c,d), which are not significantly
different from each other at p < 0.05. The result for the same
are shown in Fig. 5 – 8).

As observed in Fig. 5 the methanol extract of white flowered

M. jalapa leaves showed significantly higher antimicrobial
activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIM 5029 than
other varieties leaves. While methanol extracts of yellow and
pink flowered M. jalapa leaves showed similar significant Figure 7 Antimicrobial activity of methanol extracts of different
varieties of M. jalapa against Staphylococcus aureus NCIM 5021.
antimicrobial activity and higher than methanol extract of
orange flowered variety leaves.

Figure 5 Antimicrobial activity of methanol extracts of different Figure 8 Antimicrobial activity of methanol extracts of different
varieties of M. jalapa against Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIM 5029. varieties of M. jalapa against Bacillus subtilis NCIM 2063

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 Dipti Kumar Chandraprabha Kale and Usha Mukundan., Phytochemicals Analysis and Antibacterial Activities of Genetic
Variants of Mirabilis Jalapa
DISCUSSION
The search for antimicrobials from natural sources had received
much attention, and efforts had been put into identifying
natural compounds that can act as suitable replacements for
synthetic antimicrobial agents. Phytochemicals derived from
plant products serve as a prototype to develop less toxic and
more effective medicines for controlling the growth of
microorganisms (Ahmad and Beg, 2001). The medicinal plants
are rich in these secondary metabolites and among the vast
array of bioactive compounds alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides
and terpenoids are of high interest. These compounds have a
significant therapeutic application against human pathogens,
including bacteria, fungi and viruses (Sharma, 2011).
From the several methods available for separating plant
constituents, the chromatographic procedure is the most
commonly used techniques for general application (Kokate et
al., 2006). The present HPTLC studies confirmed the presence
of active metabolites alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids and
glycosides in M. jalapa. In this present investigation, only
methanol extracts of all varieties showed the presence of
alkaloids and glycosides, which in is contradictory to previous
reports of Kumar et al. (2010), who observed the presence of
alkaloids in acetone and chloroform, Muthumani et al. (2009),
who observed the presence of glycosides in chloroform extracts
and by Selvakumar et al. (2012), who detected alkaloids and
glycosides in acetone extract. Therefore it can be concluded
that the other extracts may contain trace amount of alkaloids
and glycosides which could not detected at the concentrations
used in the present study.
In the present study we investigated the presence of terpenoids
and flavonoids in methanol, acetone, chloroform and diethyl
ether extracts of all varieties, which is in accordance with the
results obtained by Chakraborthy (2009) and Ezhilarasu and
Prabakaran (2013).
Antibacterial activity of various solvent extracts of M. jalapa
(flower colour variants) has been evaluated in vitro against four
test organisms by agar well method. Antibacterial activity was
found to be concentration dependent for all different samples
tested. Among the four different solvents used for the
extraction, the methanol extracts followed by acetone extracts
of all variety showed maximum inhibitory activity than the
diethyl ether and chloroform extracts. Similar results on
antibacterial activities of M. jalapa were also reported by other
studies (Chakraborthy, 2009; Ullah et al., 2011). The
effectiveness of the extracts in inhibiting the growth of the test
organisms improved with increasing concentration. The zones
of inhibition at 500 mg/ml concentration were higher than 100
mg/ml concentration. From all the results, it can be inferred
that the activity of the extract is concentration-dependent. This
is in agreement with an earlier report that an increase in the
concentration of an antimicrobial agent might result in an
increase in its effectiveness (Aspen, 2000). However, the
methanolic extract of white flowered plant leaves showed good
antibacterial activity against all tested microbial strains
followed by pink then yellow and orange coloured plant leaves,
which is similar to the result obtained by Ullah et al. (2011).
The results of this study revealed that these extracts contained
compounds which were able to inhibit the growth of the
selected bacteria. M. jalapa has a wide variety of secondary
metabolites, such as alkaloids, terpenoids, and flavonoids
which have antibacterial properties (Adebajo et al., 1983).
According to the phytochemical screening of active
compounds, it was observed that the plant contains alkaloids,
flavonoids, glycosides and terpenoids. As noted earlier, these
secondary metabolites may have antimicrobial activity against
the tested bacterial species.
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